Mutual funds richer by Rs 54,681 cr in July-Sept

Improved stock market sentiment helped mutual funds become richer by Rs 54,681 crore or about 8 percent in the second quarter of the current fiscal, as the assets base grew for a majority of the fund houses.

The country's 44 fund houses together had an average AUM (Asset Under Management) of Rs 7,53,703 crore in the July- September quarter of the current fiscal, up from Rs 6,99,022 crore in the previous three-month period.

This included the AUM of Fund of Funds managed by the AMCs (Asset Management Companies) in the domestic and overseas markets, as per the latest data released by mutual fund industry body AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India).

Reuters

Excluding the domestic Fund of Funds, the total average AUM of 44 AMCs stood at Rs 7,47,229.5 crore in the second quarter of 2012-13, up from Rs 6,92,788.74 crore in the previous quarter.

Most of the fund houses, including the top-ranked HDFC, Reliance, ICICI Prudential and UTI MFs saw their AUMs rise during the last quarter.

However, BNP Paribas, Canara Robecco, Edelweiss, Fidelity, Goldman Sachs, JM Financial, Pramerica, Sahara, Tata and Taurus Mutual Funds witnessed a decline in their AUMs from the levels seen in the April-June quarter.

Of the 44 fund houses, 32 saw their AUMs rise during the period, which market experts largely attributed to revival in stock market sentiments, which helped them attract fresh investment and also improve their portfolio values.

These were followed by SBI, Franklin Templeton, Kotak Mahindra, DSP BlackRock and IDFC MFs in the top ten. In terms of gain in average AUM size, UTI MF recorded the highest increase of Rs 9,860 crore, followed by Reliance MF (Rs 5,738 crore), Birla Sun Life (Rs 5,709 crore), HDFC MF (Rs 5,199 crore) and Kotak Mahindra MF (Rs 5,024 crore).

Among others, SBI, JPMorgan, Franklin Templeton, ICICI Prudential, Deutsche, Axis and Religare MFs also witnessed an increase of Rs 1,000-4,000 crore in their respective average AUMs during the quarter.